


Steps

by Saberin



Category: Love Live! School Idol Project
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-24
Updated: 2017-01-24
Packaged: 2018-09-19 16:41:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 932
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9450677
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Saberin/pseuds/Saberin
Summary: In which they take small steps





	

**Author's Note:**

> For Jai, thanks for being a wonderful friend!

They say the first step is the hardest, Rin begs to differ. Not when her friends are with her all the time, right by her side. So close, she could almost hold her hand.

.

_Step one: tackle Maki._

Red isn’t even her favourite colour, piano isn’t even her favourite instrument and she hates studying. Maybe Maki did something to her after all, weaving magic when they spend time alone in the piano room on evenings. Maybe that would explain why she feels spellbound, enchanted as the orange light filters through, a strange ambience. Or maybe because she loves the look on Maki’s face when she is doing something she loves.

Weirdly intense, like their first meeting.

Time stops then, it is almost like she expects it.  She stands up from her seat beside the piano and tackles Maki into a hug.

.

_Step two: nuzzle Maki._

The little hammers in the piano continues for another few seconds, she lets them linger for a while, soaking up the rest of the magic and braces herself. It isn’t like she has no common sense, she counts a little in her mind, taking care not to over extend the skin ship they have right now. Not when Maki finally got used to this.

It’s like a routine, she sees Maki’s faint blush and feels herself lunging forward to rub her cheeks on Maki’s. It’s like a routine, she feels the heavy heartbeats, she can’t decipher whose, two beating in tandem. It’s like a routine, Rin hides herself in Maki’s flush and buries her face into Maki’s neck.  

“Rin thinks it’s a nice song,” She whispers, no beautiful vocabulary or extravagant words. 

“Really? I didn’t even finish playing it,” Maki replies, fingers already back on the keyboard.

“It is nice!” She says affirmatively and Maki laughs, almost like grand finale to the song. She thinks nothing in this world would be nicer than Maki’s soft laughter. And when Maki is looking at her like that, she feels trapped, swirling into the colour of Maki’s eyes.

Almost like, she is encased in magic.

.

_Step three: walk away._

She dislodges herself from their embrace as quick as she gets into it. She hits almost fifteen in her head, a little distracted from counting this time. She feels Maki’s skin burn into her own, a searing type of fear she doesn’t really know.

“Will Rin be invited here again tomorrow?” She says before leaving her seat.

She gets a curt nod in return.

She thinks the last step is the hardest. After all she is so close, she could almost hold her hand.

 

* * *

 

She spends a lot of time thinking about what ifs. What if she didn’t agree to join muse, what if she didn’t get to play piano again, what if she didn’t meet Rin. It is like there are steps gone horribly off tangent, but also fitting in a messy kind of way.

Almost like, everything is a coincidence entwined together.

What if Rin didn’t overhear her months ago, what if she never invited her friend into her safe space at evenings, where there would be nobody but them.

She sinks back into comfortable silence with Rin when the piano cover is opened, her fingers hitting the keys at the right places.

 _Step one: wait._  


* * *

  
The piece nears the end this time, Maki reads the last four bars and reaches for the pedal. Time stops then, it is almost like she expects it. It’s like a routine, she hears a little gasp of breath from Rin before she gets tackled in a hug so warm she never wants to leave.

Almost like, Rin is her personal sun.

She erases the what ifs in her mind, fingers leaving the black whites and reaches for Rin’s back, gently enveloping her with her arms. Rin returns the gesture with cheek nuzzles.

“Rin thinks it’s a nice song,” Rin whispers. A direct compliment that leaves her wanting nothing more; she gets it anyway, there is no need for words. She rubs Rin on her head and hears a satisfied hum.

“Really? I didn’t even finish playing it,” Maki replies. She lets her fingers leave reluctantly, it’s like a routine, she wonders how long more she would have to wait before she sees the fear in Rin’s eyes.

The keyboard is a familiar place, nothing more than black and white and void of temperature.

_Step two: wait._

* * *

 

“It is nice!” Rin says, so carefree, so sincere. She feels her cheeks burning, heartbeats that she doesn’t know if it is her own, because hers shouldn’t beat this loud.

Weirdly intense, like their first meeting.

And she laughs, a sincere one, unlike the cynical ones she used to give, because she feels Rin’s love for it. Her love for something she made.

Her small laugh dies, like the pedalled note and time stops then, it is almost like she expects it. She looks at the girl before her, feeling like the entire universe revolves around her sun, a sickening kind of realization, the kind she realizes many weeks ago that it is a mistake.

She takes in the widening of Rin’s eyes, the slight tremor, and the fear in them. It breaks the spell and time starts to flow, like pain coursing through her veins.

“Will Rin be invited here again tomorrow?” Rin asks. She gives the nod Rin wants to see.

It’s like a routine, she lets her go anyway.

Maybe one day, she will tackle Rin into a hug instead. She reaches out her hand and covers Rin’s retreating back.

_Step three: wait._


End file.
